


Late Nights and Subtle Discoveries

by Padfootalltheway



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Eventual James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, F/M, Gryffindor, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin Rivalry, Jily Fluff, M/M, Marauders, POV James Potter, POV Lily Evans Potter, POV Regulus Black, POV Remus Lupin, POV Sirius Black, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Sirius Black Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, The Marauders - Freeform, wolfstar, wolfstar angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-31
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:02:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 17,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25634005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Padfootalltheway/pseuds/Padfootalltheway
Summary: Lily Evans cannot sleep, walking into the common room she finds a tired James Potter surrounded by books, they talk, James's constant flirting annoys her but something happens that changes the way Lily sees him.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Regulus Black & Sirius Black, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 27
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

Lily lay restless on her four-poster, staring at the ceiling, her ears filled with voices of the harsh wind that was blowing outside. Then finally she decided she needed a walk. She got up and without thinking of how cold it was, she headed down the girls’ dorm.

She could hear the fire crackling over the whooshing sounds of the wind. She stooped in the mid of the stairs and looked over at the common room. Which was supposed to be empty but it wasn’t. Down she could see the couch by the fire which beheld two heads slumped over each other. Sleeping apparently. One with long black hair elegantly draping over the boy’s eyes, that made lily think that he was handsome. Sirius. Beside Sirius with his head tucked in the nook of Sirius’ arm was Remus, his brown unruly hair was mingled with some of the blacks of Sirius’ hair. And between them, they had a small pile of books. Some open while others were closed. It seemed they fell asleep while reading something. (This was a total shock for lily.) And down on the floor drooling on Sirius’s shoes was Peter. The Rat mouthed boy who seemed to be very comfortable with where he was.

She moved down and entered the common room which was astonishingly warm. Besides the three boys who were asleep the room was empty… Well...Not really… in the corner of the room by the window sat James Potter. With his messy ruffled hair and his head rooted in a book. Lily sighed, and made her way to the window and stood right above Potter staring outside at the restless night. The wind was harsh and the sky was crowded with black grim clouds, which sent shudders through Lily’s spine.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” Lily said in a low voice to make sure she wasn’t disturbing the ones who were sleeping. “I thought you had a match to play tomorrow”

“I could say the same to you, you see it’s in my habit to sleep late but it is not a habit of mine to see you in the dead of night!” When Lily looked over at James’ face, he, as she expected wore a smirk, but She could see his eyes were half-closed as if he wanted to sleep but couldn’t.

She stared at him for a second longer than probably she should have, and then looked over at the large pile of books that were open in front of him. Books for Spells, Enchantments, Defense against the dark arts, the noble book of spells, and a few other books that contained spells and hexes she was sure weren’t taught yet. She had noticed that the Marauders (As they called themselves) were found to be buried into various books these days. She didn’t know why of course. So she decided she would ask. What could possibly go wrong? 

“Either You guys are really influenced by Remus and have gotten serious about the OWLs or you guys are planning some prank again, No one expects you to read a book Potter, not at this point of time at least.”

“Oh, you mean no one expects me to read a book because they know I am smart enough to pass an exam without studying, that’s very sweet of you Evans,” James said with a wink.

Lily rolled her eyes. Indeed she was aware of how smart Sirius and James were. However, they would always put their brains into planning pranks, rather than studying. And Yet she was astonished when they got good grades. Remus had always told her that Sirius and James were very smart and she agreed…though she never said it out loud.

“You didn’t answer my question Potter, why do I see you reading so many books these days, is it a Prank you are going to play on Sev again!?”

“Again Evans, I’m astounded that you see me, do I interest you so much that you watch me every day, and I don’t get it anyways that why do you always have to assume that I and my friends are going to prank Snivellus!, he isn’t that important”

When Lily stared at him without blinking he added “Sorry, He isn’t important at all” she was so angry that she knew her cheeks went red and She Wished she could wake up Remus right now and tell him, that this, THIS is what she means when she says she hates JAMES POTTER!!!.

“Why do you hate him so much?”

“Hate Who?”

“SEV!!”

“I guess you know why”

“No, I don’t”

“I take it, you are lying”

She knew of course what he was talking about, he hated Sev because he was a Slytherin and he was Close to Lily and well…He hated him too…

“What do you have against Slytherin; I feel they are actually nice”

“Oh, yeah they are the best people I know, I take Malfoy as my role model, Siriusly” he was now smiling so wide with a gleam in his eyes that showed his dedication, Fake dedication and then she felt that she hated him more than ever and that Sev was right, after all, he was an arrogant git.

“Look, Lily, I don’t know what you have against me, but I really like you, I admire you, you don’t have to be so hard on me”

“make sure you get one thing in your head Potter, I HATE YOU” she hissed “ and I can never…” but before she could complete she was forced to turn her back to Potter and look at the source which made a loud moaning noise, almost a scream. It was Sirius. One moment everything was quiet, James was sitting in front of her and all she could hear was her own hissing sound and the fire, the wind seemed to have stopped. But now, there were noises in the common room and where the boys had been sleeping peacefully were tensed faces of Remus, Peter, and James, who in a flash of second had reached out to his friend. She made her way to the couch to find Sirius breathing heavily and soaked in sweat.

“Again?” Remus asked in a very soft voice

Sirius nodded; clearly he wasn’t in his right state. She had never seen Sirius Orion Black so disoriented, he seemed…… Lost and scared.

“Don’t worry pal, we’ll take you to your bed, everything’s alright!” James said in an assuring voice.

“Yes, Sirius we are all here with you,” Peter said in his thin voice.

The next thing Lily knew was that with an arm around Sirius’ shoulders Remus and James took him into the Boys dorm and peter following them at the back, Sirius was so tall that Peter could not even help. Only Remus seemed to be taller than Sirius, who was helping Sirius out. _ Always _ . And vice versa.

She stood staring outside at the endless sky, that seemed to have grown a little less dark. She wondered what happened to Sirius, they were friends after all. While she stood there she heard someone coming down. James Potter.

“oh! You’re still here!” he said ruffling his hair again. Making them messier than they already were. He now wore a very concerned look. A look, that Lily had never seen over James Potter’s face.  _ He cares for His friends. He is a true Friend. _

“What happened, how’s Sirius?”

“Oh-un, he...Umm...He gets nightmares; about …well…you know…his family and his brother and things”

Lily didn’t know what to say to it, she had always seen Sirius as the Strong goofy one, always joking around, playing pranks, controlled yet free, she had never imagined there’d be a side of him like this too. “Is he alright?” was all she could manage to ask.

James let out a deep breath. “He’ll be fine” then he smiled a bit, a smile that seemed genuine and gave her the assurance that he would be alright. “I guess you should go get some sleep,” he said staring at her. (as he usually did) but now she sensed what Remus had meant when he said that, she didn’t know James well enough to judge him. What was wrong with her one second she was so angry with him that she could hex him with the nastiest hex she knew and now she felt warm towards him like she liked him. She shut the vault in her head and told herself she needed some sleep.

“I think you need some too,” she said this and started off for the dorm when abruptly turned and smiled as she remembered “and yes- good luck for your game tomorrow, I’ll be supporting you against Slytherin” to this James smile widely and she finally retreated to get some sleep.


	2. Feelings and Hopes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After remembering the incidents of the previous night, Sirius can't sleep. But with the help of Remus' words and encouragement he feels good. and remembers the memory that had given him hope and had made him FREE...

_Sirius could not sleep the whole night. Thoughts wavered in the back of his mind. Flashes of moments that he hated the most. His mother. His father. His Family. And himself beat till he would be drenched in blood or be full of pain, so much pain that he thought he was made up of it._   
_Remus had given him chocolate to calm down, and usually, it did work but not today. He felt uncomfortable and was disturbed and…scared. He didn’t know why but, his nightmares were like a monster that haunts you down in the dark and then sucks all life from you. he felt weak and was scared to even closed his eyes, assuming that he will see that nightmare again._

The next morning Sirius was the one to get up the earliest (because he didn’t sleep all night). He showered for a very long time as it made him feel really good and it was as if all the tiredness had been washed away from him. He changed into his robes without bothering to wear a tie, and made his way to the dorm to find Remus already up and was dressed in his school robes with a tie over it. He looked up and Sirius and smiled “up so early, did you even sleep?”  
“Yeah, I did thanks to your chocolate!” he tried to sound enthusiastic but he knew that Remus knew him good enough to know he was lying. Sirius could see it in Remus’ face, but he was happy when he saw that Remus didn’t press the topic much.  
He picked up two pillows from his bedside and threw one on each James’ and Peter’s face that jerked them to get up. “Potter boy you’ve got a match to win today, wakey wakey.” James got up and as usual, was ruffling his hair to make them messier and then picked his wand and said “Accio glasses” and his Glasses zoomed-in toward him but hit hard on his nose which made both Sirius and Remus laugh. “you know you can just pick them up!” Remus said “would save your nose from breaking” and Sirius chuckled. He suddenly felt better though he knew that he was very tired from a sleepless night.  
“Get up fast; we’ll see you at the breakfast table.” Sirius and Remus retreated to the Great hall for breakfast. As they entered, Sirius could smell the Pumpkin juice and the bacon that made his mouth water. He and Remus sat beside each other and started with their breakfast. Across from the Gryffindor table was the Slytherin table where Sirius could see Regulus having Breakfast along with the fellow Slytherin team members. As he looked at Reg he remembered the moments they had spent together as brothers, laughing, playing, fighting, and loving each other. But things were different now. Reg and Sirius’ relationship was like the broken bond that hung on a thread and he had no idea whether they’d get back together ever. Sirius had a sudden urge to go up to Reg like any elder brother and wish him luck for the game. But he sighed and tried to look away, but failed. _They resembled so much. The stormy grey eyes and the wavy black hair and the perfect jawline but still they were two different people._ As his thoughts went on, he heard Remus say in a firm yet soft voice “You know Pads things can work out, you just need to go over and talk”. He looked at Remus, He wasn’t looking at Sirius, but at Reg and so Sirius too looked at Reg and said: “It’s not as easy as it sounds, is it?”  
“I thought you liked stuff that was difficult to do or to achieve” now they both looked at each other a spark of agreement went through them. and he knew that there was hope and that things could get better if he wanted them to, Reg is my brother, he loves me as much as I love him, we can still get back together. The hope is still alive. Sirius sighed “You don’t get it Moony, He hates me, and he hates to be my brother”  
“Did he say this to you?”  
“A lot of things are to be understood without them being said” He looked at Remus, his scars, his pale skin, and his brown eyes. Whenever Sirius looked at Remus’ eyes he felt good like they were some calming tonic. Remus nodded slightly and squeezed Sirius’ shoulder. “You are a great brother and a great friend, and a very good person Sirius, you have so much potential you just don’t realize it”  
“Comes from the person who calls himself a monster, when everyone knows he isn’t” They both looked at each other, Sirius arched his brow and he saw Remus’s ears turned red but before any of them could say anything else a tray lowered across from where they sat, attached to Lily Evans.  
“Hey Remus, Hey Sirius.”  
“Hey Lily” they both said  
“You okay Sirius?” He knew she had been there the previous night and had seen him when he woke up after the nightmare. Honestly, he didn’t care, he was who he was, he wasn’t supposed to feel embarrassed about anything. And as for her question, he lied again. “Oh, I’m great, what about you”  
Lily not getting to hear the truth, just smile as she sipped through her goblet. A few sentences later the group was joined by James and Peter. James was enthusiastic about the match and assured them that no matter what Gryffindor was gonna win. He did not eat much but throughout the breakfast cheered up his team members that they were going to nail it.  
Finally, when the breakfast finished and the marauders along with Lily were heading to the stands, Sirius saw Reg going to change for the match he slowed down and was about to get to Reg when he was blocked by Malfoy on the way.  
“Where do you think you are going, Black?”  
“None of your business Malfoy”  
“then why don’t you just head with you nerdy and idiotic friends” Sirius could not take it so he balled his fists and raised one of them to punch Malfoy on his face for insulting his friends but was stopped by Lily who seemed to be standing right behind.  
“No fighting boys, or else you are going to lose some good amount of points from your house”  
Malfoy hissed as he glared at Lily’s prefect badge. Then made his way to the Slytherins who were already giving Sirius nasty looks. And between them stood Reg he, unlike the other, wore a cold expression that Sirius was unable to read but before anything else could happen he was dragged from the spot by Remus.  
“And what do you think you were about to do”  
Sirius took a deep breath and said “That Malfoy boy, I’m going to kill him one day and I swear before I do that I’m gonna make all his hair dye black.”  
“Yeah, you do that but right now we’ve to go, come on.” And so they headed towards the stands. Sirius still being held by Remus.  
With Remus and Peter by his side, he cheered for James and Gryffindor, however amid the noises made by students wearing scarlet and green robes and clothes and Weasly shouting on the microphone “and here goes Potter, I think he sees the snitch and…” his mind hovered to a particular memory that he remembered very vividly. Of him being sorted to Gryffindor.

_The young Sirius’ name being called by McGonagall “Black, Sirius” he walked with all his muscles stiffened, and his mind filled with a zillion thoughts. What would he do if he was sorted into Slytherin, he didn’t want to be one, but then he thought of his cousin who was disgraced by the family for being sorted into Hufflepuff. He could hear the Slytherin table already cheering and waiting to welcome another powerful, dark, Black… He finally sat on the stool and felt the sorting hat being pulled up to his face, “un-Hun…a Black…why am I even waiting, you are destined to be in Slytherin, but then…I see loyalty and bravery and ….hmmm….I see…why not Slytherin boy?…oh I see, I see you interest me so much boy, I will be very interested to see what you do in the future so here it is another…_   
_“Gryffindor” the Sorting hat shouted and the Great hall fell silent. All eyes were on him and he shuddered and his insides churned forget butterflies he had a whole zoo inside his stomach. He was happy. He was finally free._

“And….and…. yes….here he goes and he takes It... JAMES POTTER TAKES THE SNITCH AND GRYFFINDOR WINS!!!!!” The crowd roared everywhere that he could see, he saw scarlet and everyone cheering for James. Sirius smiled broadly. And cheered for James along with Remus, Peter, and Lily.  
Then they were back to the common room by the fire. James crouched in the corner, telling tales of how “easy” as he called it was to catch the snitch for him. And the other listened. It was difficult for Sirius to describe his feelings… he wasn’t feeling bad or gloomy as he had felt before rather he felt warm and cozy… The usual chatter of James, the astonishing expressions that Peter gave, and the melodious laugh that belonged to Remus. (and Sirius loved it)...he finally realized what he felt, _he felt home._


	3. Alone in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regulus is broken, he is angry with Sirius, he loves his brother but little does he knows how much Sirius loves him?

He stood there in silence. Staring at his face in the mirror. His hands clutched tightly around the basin, his knuckles were gone white like they had no blood running through them. He looked down at the sink, which went deep and deep down, he felt his insides burn, he felt irritated he felt frustrated, he was angry. And he wasn’t angry because he had lost the match, or because James Potter got the snitch before he could, he was angry with everything in his life; His mother and his father, him being a Slytherin, Him being alone with no one to share his grief with, he was angry with his brother, Sirius, he was so angry he could see the green veins embedded in his red face. He splashed water over his face and tried to breathe. Don’t cry, don’t cry, you are not a kid that keeps crying because your brother was not there when you needed him the most, don’t cry. But as they say it the body is the mind’s enemy. And so he sobbed, he cried leaning over the basin and when he finally looked over at the mirror and saw his reflection it was as if he could see Sirius looking through it. The wavy black hair, that elegantly draped over his eyes, the squared perfect jawline, and finally The stormy grey eyes, that were a perfect representation of how he felt right now, experiencing a whole hurricane, alone. It felt as though Sirius was staring back at him from the mirror, smirking at him, at how foolish he, Regulus was.  
 _No_ , he though _I’m not foolish, but he couldn’t stop crying, tears streamed down his cheeks, his eyes were glassy and his insides churned, he felt he might collapse any moment but he was strong, stronger than anyone knew._

_You promised you’d be there, with me, by my side whenever I needed you, but look at where I stand today, all alone in this unending silence. I knew that you hated our family and our parents but I thought you loved me, was I fooled, was it another prank of yours, to make me believe that you loved me and I loved you back. , I thought you’d stay, you’d stay if not for mum or dad but for-for me. But I was wrong you are so selfish Sirius you choose yourself, you ran leaving me completely shattered and to feel all the pain .alone, to listen to mum and dad roaring with rage that you’d left, that how bad you were. And I was the one who witnessed it all because YOU were the one who ran away when you promised you’d stay. Sometimes when I see you in the corridors, I think that maybe there is hope, that maybe you will realize how much I need you, brother, how much I need you, love you. but you seem so ignorant to even look at me in the eye._  
 _Today before the match started only I know what urge that I had to see you and to talk to you and for you to wish me luck, but NO, you didn’t come. I don’t know what to feel anymore, I feel hollow, I feel like all the goodness that was in me is depleting and the only reason is, YOU brother you, I’m so alone, I seem to have forgotten how to laugh or to even smile. I WISH, I WISH I could tell you all of it, but you are too busy to listen to me, too arrogant and too ignorant._  
 _I still remember the time where you’d make me laugh and smile, you were the one that made me happy and comforted me, you played pranks on me and later taught me how to enjoy life, you were the one that protected me when mother used to be angry with me, you were the one that took all the blame on your head, and I was foolish enough to believe that these things made me love you more and I did, I wish, I wish I could ask you “WHY?”, “Why did you have to leave me alone”, “Did you really love me”_  
 _And is there still hope that things can better because I love you, Sirius, I love you brother and I hate you for leaving me in a complete mess. I don’t know what I feel anymore. I have forgotten how to live._  
 _Thoughts raced in his mind and he felt like his mind might explode any second, he didn’t want to think about the past or about hope. He had learned to stay alone and now he wanted to be_.

He wanted to scream, wanted to scream on top of his lungs, wondering if it would make him feel any better. He let out a low growl, and balled his fists and hit hard on the mirror that was in front of him. The moment his hand hit the mirror it broke into shards of glass, penetrating through his flesh, blood ran down his knuckles, and he stood there feeling the intense pain that it gave. Just then he heard someone entering the washroom before he could react he saw who had entered. Whistling and straitening his black hair was Sirius. When he saw Regulus he was pinned to the point. Reg looked away from his face and stared at the remains of the mirror.  
“Blimey Reg you okay what happened, you’ve got blood all over your hands!” He stepped toward him, trying to reach him, but Regulus stepped back. “Let me have a look Reg, we’ll fix it.” His voice was calm and promising.  
“Get away from me, I don’t need you” Regulus’ voice shook. He did want Sirius to comfort him, to help him out, but… “You’re a liar, you are so, so selfish Sirius, so selfish”  
He knew that Sirius understood what he meant. He didn’t have to make it clearer than this. “you don’t get it Reg, I was angry, my mind wasn’t working and you know you know why I left, I just couldn’t bear all of the mess that our family is…”  
“I thought you loved me, I-I thought you’d stay with me for me” he started to cry, in front of Sirius who seemed to be pinned to where he was. He was in pain both internally and externally.  
“I love you Reg, I really do”  
“NO, you’re a liar, you promised you’d be there for me when I need you, like an elder brother, like a shadow, but-but, y-you left, you left me to bear all the mess alone…y-you” Regulus broke, his throat burned, his mind raced, his muscles gave up. “You broke your promise; now I don’t need you, go away”  
“Sirius you alright I heard….” It was Lupin one of Sirius’ best friend, he apparently had been standing outside waiting for Sirius. “Regulus you okay, you have blood, stand still I’ll fix it”  
“Get away you two, I don’t need anyone I’m good, I don’t –I don’t need anyone I’m not a fool” with that being said he ran, he ran out of the restroom into the shadows. He was out of breath, he sobbed, he was broken, he remembered the shards of glass on the floor and felt the same on the inside, of him being broken into a million pieces. _Of his hope being shattered._


	4. The Moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The full moon is here and it is time for the marauders to accompany Remus for the first time...

As Regulus ran from the washroom, Remus could see Sirius go pale, Sirius stood there staring at the spot where his brother had been standing. Remus hesitated at first then finally spoke “Sirius?” At this Sirius looked at Remus, and Remus knowing Sirius so well could see what was going on inside his head “it’s not your fault Pads, it is not, he just doesn’t get it, and I’m sure if you talk to him he’d understand, don’t blame yourself”  
“It’s-it’s all my fault, I-i…I should have stayed, should have been with him, I promised him, i-i…” He cut himself off, and then Remus looked at his eyes, and he saw turmoil. HE could see his friend blaming himself for something he wasn’t responsible for. Remus walked towards Sirius and embraced him into a hug and Sirius sobbed over his shoulder, for a very long time they stood there, with Sirius crying and blaming himself while Remus trying to tell him it wasn’t his fault.  
It was very late when they reached the common room, everyone was in their beds except for James and Peter who sat by the window waiting for their friends to come back. When Sirius and Remus entered the common room, the air felt familiar and the warmness of the room reminded Remus of home.   
“You guys are soooo late, what have you been up to” Remus stopped for a tick, swallowed and then began but Sirius spoke before he could “Nothing, we just went out on a walk and didn’t know when the time passed”. Remus nodded and then looked at Sirius, a thought went through his mind…how many times does he lies about what happens, how much does he bury inside himself. How many times does he have to experience the pain alone, because we don’t know he is lying   
The next morning Remus woke up to find his body screeching with pain, it was as if all the particles that he was made up of were screaming and laughing at him, reminding him that the full moon was near.  
When he looked up at his face in the mirror he saw the reflection of himself that he hated the most, Pale face as if all the life had been drained from it, the shabby hair and the scar that ran through the mid of his nose and all the other details that reminded him of his past experiences in the Shrieking shack, alone.  
Loneliness is like a monster that eats you up from the within until your soul becomes completely hollow. It gives you pain like that of piercing needles and you feel that darkness is blanketed all around you, Dark, nowhere to go, no place to look. Just you and the unending eerily silence. All you have is yourself, no one to pour out your feelings to, only you and your unending thoughts.  
All his life Remus had been alone, no one knew about his problem, he bore its burden and pain all by himself, he was alone, and His transformations were a living nightmare, the screeching voices that echoed in his mind, that belonged to his other self. The blood that would be soaked onto his shirt. And the unending darkness that had settled itself inside his body and mind.  
Things have changed now though, his friends know about his problem, and they had accepted him, they had stayed with him, they did not desert him at all but now are trying to make things better for him. They had been practicing to become Animagus, and this full moon they’d accompany him to the shrieking shack. He was both tempted that he would have someone along with him but he was also afraid that his friends will see his other self. What would they think.  
The next morning, With Sirius not uttering a word and Remus trying to hold up a smile, but failing to do so, the marauders somehow managed to have their breakfast and rush out of the Great hall. When Sirius finally looked at Remus, his expressions changed, and he exclaimed “Oh, shit, I was so busy with my own self that I forgot that the full moon is so near”  
“You look terrible Remus” Peter said   
“Well I agree, you need rest” James said nodding  
“Guys it’s alright, I’m fine” Even as he said he, he could feel his muscles stiffing and his head hurting more than ever but he ignored and went off with his friends.   
XXX XXX  
The moon was out shining brightly and Remus sat on the edge of his bed in the Shrieking shack, the air was musty and was full of dust. HE sat there drawing circles on his palm, anxiously, anxiety seemed to be creeping into his body, any moment-any moment from now, he would transform, become a monster, man hunting monster, a part of himself that he hated more than anything. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Tried to relax but his thoughts won’t stop racing, the previous wounds seemed to be opening and releasing out pain, he started to pace into the room, he bit his lip and that’s when he heard it… low voices, he at first was perplexed at who might be there but then he heard voices that he immediately recognized to be of his friends.  
“Where is he?” he heard James whisper   
“I think you stepped on him…wait…wait …wait…I think I stepped on him” It was Sirius   
“What! Get off him; he will choke to dead, Sirius get going”  
“Ow, I almost died Padfoot” This was Peter, who seemed to have been under Sirius’ feet for a quite long time.  
“It’s not my fault that you are so little Wormtail, but I would like to say that next time you will have to take care that you don’t come under my feet. Understand?”   
“What does it take to say the word “sorry” padfoot” Remus said, he knew they could hear him. He crossed his arms and looked at Sirius who was wearing a smirk “Gotta have some respect Moony, otherwise what this big head is for”  
“How are you feeling Remus?” James asked   
“I’m alive on adrenaline” he shrugged and smiled, he was so happy to see his friends, finally he won’t be as miserable as he was, he had his friends, he just wished that, things went accordingly so that he would stay calm, the last thing he wanted to do was to hurt his friends.   
“You guys better change your form” Remus said in an uneasy voice. And seconds where his friends had been standing stood a great black dog, a stag with its majestic antlers and a small Rat. Remus Smiled and made his way to the room with a bed in it. The moment he sat, he felt his insides burn and every inch of him was crying and roaring with pain, he looked at his hands which were red. The last thing he remembered was glancing at his friends who stood there watching him and then everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Requests and Suggestions would be great!


	5. Sunshine Daisies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> what happens after the full moon... will the marauders still be friends...Duh..yes....:)

As the sun came out James and the fellow Marauders left Remus in the shrieking shack, they didn’t want to be caught by Madam Pomfrey. As they went into the castle James looked up at Sirius’ face to find his fried wearing a concerned expression. “you okay Pads?”

Sirius looked at James with his sleepy eyes and a frown “will he be alright, he did seem pretty hurt”

James knew Sirius was worried about Remus, but James tried to encourage Sirius nevertheless “He will be Alright, he needs to rest”

There was a minute silence and then Sirius stopped walking and clenched his fists “Only if I knew who did this to Moony, I’d go and suck all the blood from that werewolf"

James squeezed his shoulder and gave him a small smile “We’d do it together”

“But does it matter, it would make no difference, We cannot reverse what happened to Remus,” Peter said in a low voice “but what we can do right now is to stay with him, think about all the times that he had to be alone to face his transformations”

“All the pain” Sirius sighed

“I must say, I really like the way Remus is, He sees the bright line in everything”

“He tries to encourage us all, he keeps wearing a smile always, but he does not share his pain with us, I cannot even imagine being at his place, I’d have rather killed myself than bear all of that pain _alone”_

James smiled while ruffling his hair “I think we better hurry or else… you know things can get pretty nasty if someone finds us”

**XXXXXXXX**

The next morning when Remus woke up in the hospital wing he found a basket by his side. The hospital was empty and smelled of medicine, he could feel his head screaming with pain and his wounds which had been covered with bandage were healing however he was still in pain.

He somehow managed to sit straight and picked up the basket to find loads of chocolate bars and frogs along with his some Daises, and a card. When he opened it he found some familiar pieces of handwriting over it.

The first one was very neat and beautiful, Lily’s he thought which said “Get well soon, can’t wait to see you _ Lily”

The one next to it was short and messy “C’mon mate recover fast, we have a lot of pranks to play-Prongs”

Beneath it was childish handwriting that read “have some chocolate you’ll feel better- Wormtail”

Remus laughed and ate a chocolate frog before reading the last message that was definitely by Sirius. The writing was small, rough, and almost unreadable, but Remus was very used to it so he read it “Re, mate get well soon, I miss you so much, these people are eating my head up, I need you here, GET WELL SOON <3- you best pal, you know who :)))” and lastly there was a rough drawing of a Wolf, A Dog, a Stag and a Rat, that was Sirius’ drawing as it was pretty bad but he could make out the things. He smiled wide and he could feel tears coming at the back of his eyes, and he let them flow, he let them come out, for he knew that he had someone who cared for him, who didn’t mind who he was, _he had his friends._


	6. Hogsmeade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius, Remus, and Peter go to Hogsmeade, but Remus goes back...why?......

_His body gave up, but his mind didn’t._

_He could see two tall figures standing before him. One relatively close holding him by his collar, while the other standing in the shadows of the room and yelling as if he, Sirius was miles away. “TRAITOR” Mrs. Black yelled “you filthy git, you bloody blood traitor”_

_Sirius grinned at this and made a huffing noise from his nose which definitely instigated Mr. Black to slap him hard on his face while forcing him on the floor of the hall. “You won’t understand like this… will you?” Mr. Black roared, digging deep into his robes, definitely, in search of his wand. Sirius knew what was coming and so did the others who were present._

_“Dad no!!” cried Reg “Please don’t do it, Please I Beg you”_

_“Stay away from this boy, you don’t want to be in his place do you?” thundered Mr. Black while waving his wand in a particular motion and chanting “CRUTIO”_

_It was when Sirius felt it; the immense pain growing like wildfire in his body. He shrieked with pain and anger. He didn’t want to live. He swore to himself that he’d never ever set a foot here again until he breaths. The pain made him feel like he’s going to die and it was as if his insides were broken and his body failed to fight. All he could hear now were his own screams and before everything went black he saw the look of triumph on his Father’s face…………._

_Sirius woke up startled to find himself in the comforts of his four-poster bed breathing heavily and sweat ticking down his forehead. He looked around quickly, to find his roommates and fellow marauders fast asleep. It was a dream he thought, a bad nightmare. Just a mere bloody memory. He quaffed down a glass of water and stared at the ceiling for a while before lying down again in hopes to get some sleep._

XXX

As he made his way towards the Great hall, Sirius knew that he had shadows under his eyes and looked as if he was sick. He couldn’t sleep after the nightmare and his spirits, which were usually high, were low. He yawned as he made his way toward the Gryffindor table. He slipped beside Peter, who had his plate full of food. He looked up at Sirius and asked “you okay Padfoot?”

“Yeah,” he said in a sleepy voice “just a bit tired”.

“Here,” said Remus offering him a big piece of chocolate. Sirius took it and shoved it onto his mouth “Thanks Moony” he mumbled, so what are we up to today, Hogsmeade?”

“Oh, so you guys are heading to Hogsmeade. Cool” James said,

“what do you mean you guys Prongs?” Sirius said in a puzzled tone “aren’t you coming?”

“Padfoot, the mate, don’t you remember today we are having Quiddich tryouts!!!”

“So does that means that I am struck with these two” Sirius grinned pointing at Remus and Peter. Remus had already taken out a book and was buried deep into it, whereas Peter was shoving food into his already mounted plate. Remus peeked from his book and said “Technically, it’s just him…. And his food, if you count it” The marauders laughed.

“Oh come one Moony m’boy” Sirius said imitating the potions professor, Slughorn. Sirius had already seen this coming. He knew that Peter would do whatever Sirius would, but Mooney needed convincing. “What is more important than going out with your friends, mate?”

Remus looked uninterested replying “Homework! I hope Padfoot that you realize that I am behind everyone else in classes because of my “furry-little-problem” and so I can’t come, but I would be really glad if you brought me some chocolates.”

He smiled and Sirius looked frustrated. “No,” he said simply “I won’t bring you any chocolates and neither will Wormtail” he gave a penetrating look at Peter who turned scarlet and nodded.

“Moony if you come, Padfoot will buy you your favorite chocolate from Honeydukes, right Padfoot?” Peter asked. And Sirius nodded while adding “the most I can do is to let you carry your book along. Okay?”

“Deal” Moony replied as he sipped some pumpkin juice, and then turned to James “When do you have your tryouts?”

“Starting now… and I think I should be heading or else I would get a good scolding from the captain,”

he said with a wink and left the great hall “So here’s the plan” Sirius said “We first go to honeydukes let Mooney buy some chocolates, then to Zonko’s joke shop buy some of my stuff… then to the 3 broomsticks, have some butterbeer and finally go watch the Quiddich tryouts. OK.” Peter and Remus nodded “And if, someone tries to run from between” He continued, eyeing Remus “then they better beware, I’m getting good at hexing people, let’s go get our robes and march towards Hogsmeade."

The Chocolate thought Sirius had made his spirits rise and he was starting to feel better. Thanks to Mooney.

XXX

The wind was chilly and the village was caked in the snow like icing over the cake. The three Marauders made their way to Honeydukes leaving behind their traces like so many other students. “Christmas is nearing” Peter claimed excitedly “I can’t wait to go home, we have our whole family gathering this year” Remus smiled widely; however, Sirius gave Peter a small unhappy smile. He was, after all unhappy; He didn’t have a loving and caring family like the fellow marauders. “Lucky you,” Sirius said in a low voice.

To this Peter and Remus exchanged uncomfortable glances. “You aren’t going home Padfoot,” Peter asked.

“No, I do not have a home or a family” Sirius replied.

“Don’t talk like this Padfoot, We are with you, we are your family and Hogwarts is your home” Moony said with a smile. Yes, it was true that Sirius thought of Hogwarts as his home and his fellow marauders as his family. Sirius smiled widely at the thought of His new home.HOGWARTS. And of Christmas, that was a week later and the thought made him realize that he will have to be alone as all his friends were going to their home.

Sirius sighed, He wished his friends would stay with him for Christmas, but quickly shoved the thought back into his vault, cursing himself for his selfishness. He glanced at Moony who seemed to be in turmoil as if solving some Arithmancy problem in his head and then abruptly he turned to Sirius with a grin on his face and spluttered “You know what Padfoot, I need to get to the castle now.”

Sirius was baffled and looked at his friend with a bewildered expression who seemed to be too busy in his thought that he took no notice of his friend. He continued “Bye, I’ll see you guys at the Pitch then, bring me chocolates I’ll pay you later,” he said all of it in one breath before turning on his heels and heading toward the castle.

“MOONY YOU TRAITOR, COME BACK RIGHT NOW! OR I SWEAR I’LL HEX YOU WITH A SPELL YOUDON’T KNOW HOW TO FIX” Sirius yelled, but Moony had already gone and was nearing the castle. “Come on Wormtail, We won’t let Remus spoil our Weekend” Wormtail looked over at Sirius’s red face and nodded.

And so continuing the plan, they went to Honeydukes, bought a big bar of honeydukes special chocolate, not for Moony, but too tease him, then headed to Zonko’s Joke shop-bought, some of Sirius’s prank stuff, had butterbeer and made their way to the Quiddich Pitch where they were met by Remus who seemed to be coming from the Owlery. “Where did you leave Mooney” squealed Peter as Sirius rolled his eyes at the sight of him

“Well, you’ll get to know that tomorrow. You brought me chocolate?” He asked Peter who looked confused about what to say. Sirius, however, took no time to reply

“We brought some for ourselves but not for you”

“Oh come on Padfoot, I know you brought it for me,” Remus Said with a Wink.

“No, I didn’t”

“OK then, we’ll see, for how long can you keep it away from me”

“Peter remind me to Hex this traitor when we reach the dorm”

“Well, I’ll remind you Padfoot,” Peter said suppressing a laugh “But I don’t think that there is any hex, that you know, that Moony does not know how to fix” Moony laughed giving Peter a true-that look. Sirius rolled his eyes but grinned as he dug into his robes to give Remus the chocolate that he, really did bring for him.


	7. Letters!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> at the breakfast table, the owl post arrives and brings two letters each of James and Remus, but what do they say???

At the Breakfast Table

Lily Evans could see the three marauders sitting in the Quiddich pitch close together and laughing at something that Peter had just said. She sat two rows above them looking eagerly at how they were enjoying the weekend together. She had no such friend except Severus, who had decided to leave her alone and instead spend time with his Slytherin friends. And so she decided to go watch the Quiddich tryouts. Sirius and Peter had now gotten up and were making their way to the ground, she wondered why. Sirius was not in the house team and neither had the talent to get into it, but he loved Quiddich, like Potter who was a great seeker and was in the house team since the second year. Peter looked scared as if he was forced to follow his friend to the pitch.   
Remus kept himself on the stands, still chucking while waving his friends good luck. When he finally looked behind to see Lily he waved at her and made his way to her. Remus and Lily were both Prefects and were good friends. Lily liked Remus, because he was polite, calm, and logical but wondered why he would choose people like Black and Potter to hang out with, who were completely different from him.

“Hi Lily, Where is snivel- ugg... Snape” Remus, like other Marauders, did not fancy Severus, but he was decent enough not to call him “Snivellus” in front of her, unlike the others who would leave no moment to insult or play pranks on her best friend. “Hanging out with his Slytherin friends, is he?” Lily nodded as Remus came to sit beside her.   
They watched Sirius and Peter standing in the line for the keeper tryouts. “What is it that they are doing, down there?” she asked as Remus chuckled and replied “making a fool of themselves”   
“Why do you even hang out with them!?” lily asked and regretted the second she said it, Everyone knew about this particular lot, that called themselves as the marauders, and their unwavering trust and loyalty towards each other was commendable. And she had just offended Remus regarding his friends, however to her surprise Remus smiled and said firmly “They are not as bad as you think they are lily, you’ve only seen one side of them, and you are judging them, well that’s unfair on your part”   
“but they are always planning to prank someone or insulting them!, especially that Potter ” Lily had a particular dislike and hatred towards James Potter, who was always behind her and her best friend. Remus kept smiling and spoke not looking at her but at James who was not standing beside Sirius leaning over him with a look of arrogance over his face as always. “you know he fancies you Lily and would do anything to be your friend, He’s a good person on the inside, but to know it you will have to know him” Lily, as a matter of fact, knew this, but she could never get over the fact that James Potter was a very arrogant boy. “You’re are very nice friend Remus and I don’t like seeing you in their company” Remus now looked at her still smiling “Don’t be angry Lily, but Snape’s not the best person to hang out with too” She could sense anger building up and decided on to change the subject before It was too late “How’s your preparation for OWLs going”  
“Good, how’s yours?”  
“Good, you know Remus I think you should become an Auror, the ministry will be delighted to have someone like you”  
“Someone like me?” Remus said with a look that suggested that he was referring to something she had no idea about “Fat chance” the smile over his face did not fade and was now starting to make lily agitated.   
“Well I don’t think so” she commented “instead I think they’ll be happy to take you in” Remus sighed and mumbled something under his breath of which she could only make out a few words of “ministry would kick me out” She was perplexed   
"I know Remus that you think that you would be neglected because of your Problem, but things can change, things can get better.  
“fat chance of that Lily," the still smiling face told her. Lily could just stare at Remus, she was out of words. "I am glad we are friends if we still are?” she nodded abruptly and his smile widened “I’ll see you later then, and yes, don’t forget what I said about James” and with that, he walked away leaving her alone and smiling to herself at the thought that she had good friends besides Sev. And she promised herself that she would take Remus’s word and give Potter a chance to prove himself. She kept smiling as she gathered her stuff and made her way to the Gryffindor common room.

XXX  
The great hall was packed with students and the unending noises of clutter were penetrating Sirius’s ears, who sat with his friends. Peter and James sat across Remus and Sirius having their breakfast. Like always Peter was shoving food into his mouth and plate as if he’d not eaten for ages, James sat daydreaming about Lily Evans and Remus sat with a book open in front.  
As Sirius started his breakfast the daily post arrived. Hundreds of screeching Owls with their wings spread open, each carrying a letter or parcel in their beaks occupied the ceiling of the great hall searching for the owners of the letter. To His surprise, two barn owls landed near the marauders. Mooney took the letter out of the owl that stood in front of him and gave the owl a toast as a treat before it flew away to the Owlery. Other owl stood in front of James with his large amber eyes staring at his, Sirius’s friend who abruptly took the letter off the owl and started to read. Peter watched Mooney and prongs with a puzzled look over his face as Sirius noticed that his friends’ faces turned into a grin as they both nodded to each other after they had read their letters.  
“How was the reply,” Moony asked James  
James replied putting his thumbs up “Positive. Yours?”  
Remus smiled widely “Positive”  
“If you guys are done with the little-nice-chat-after-reading-the-letter can we know what sooo positive is about?” Sirius asked

“You know Padfoot, Mooney came to me yesterday during the tryouts and asked me if I could write to my parents to convince them to let me stay here, at Hogwarts for Christmas. And so we wrote and the reply is positive” James said with a Wink.  
“So Padfoot” Remus added “You now, won’t be able to spend the Christmas alone as we will be there to trouble you”  
“Y-You g-guys did it for me?” Sirius looked flabbergasted as he said those words “Blimey, Remus you told James everything and you planned it out”  
“Oh! Yes we did, do you think that only you can do things for your friends, besides OWLs are nearing and we may as well get some time to study. Say what Padfoot, I can help you and Prongs” Remus Said with a Smirk chuckling.  
“STUDY?” James Exclaimed “that wasn’t the part of the plan Mooney, I thought you said we might practice on getting better at becoming an Animagus”  
“Good idea,” Sirius said excitedly “but I’m going to miss Wormtail, Wish he could stay too”  
“Yeah, I would have loved to stay too, had I not had the gathering at my place, but maybe next time,” Peter said with a low smile.  
“Yeah,” the three marauders said positively.   
“Thanks, Moony” Sirius said hugging the marauder who sat beside him. Remus tried to slip out from Sirius’s grip but failed to do so “Oh come on Sirius I’m choking, let go” But Sirius laughed and held Remus more tightly “not until you really do choke” the Marauders laughed heartedly ignoring the stares they got from the fellow Gryffindors including Lily Evans, who rolled her eyes and thought that the marauders were idiots.


	8. The Patrol

Lily Evans and Remus Lupin were patrolling the eerily and deserted corridors of Hogwarts a few days before Christmas. There was no sign of anything living or dead. It seemed as though they were the only ones out there. As prefects, it was their duty to patrol the corridors after-hours to see if any student was smuggling out of their bed at this point of time.   
Lily Evans looked up at her friend who was walking slowly down the corridor. His scrawny body and the scars that seemed endless. The unruly hair that took over his forehead at places. The amber-ish light brown eyes were hollow and shuttered at the same time. He was tall. Though it was their 5th year at Hogwarts but he was already taller than most 7thyears.   
“You’re looking at me as if I’ve done something wrong,” Remus said eyeing her.  
“You’ve grown so tall” she commented  
He came to halt and turned to her “If that is what is wrong then; I’m sorry I cannot do anything about it” he said with a smirk.  
“Your friends do have an influence over you, “Lily said as she rolled her eyes. Remus gave a low laugh and said “indeed”  
“I still don’t get it why can’t they use their brains in the right place.”  
“So you don’t deny that they are Cleaver,” Remus said with a smile  
“NO! I don’t, they are smart but they don’t use it for good Remus. And I’m sure if they did they could have been better than us. But NO, They are always messing around, taunting and playing pranks on other students and especially Severus. Potter and Black are always after him, you know he is so frustrated and that is the reason why I can never get Potter into my good books. Such an Arrogant git he is.”  
“Well, Lily… Snape is a different case…he hates us and what do you expect in return, for us to Love him, Respect him?”  
“Blimey Remus He’s my best friend,” Lily said angrily “You can’t go on talking about him like that”  
The smile over Remus’s face had faded when lily looked up at him “I hope you do Realize Lily that Sirius and James are my Best friends” He said arching a brow at her.”I could say the same to you”  
Lily sighed; she had not expected this from Remus. She had always thought of him as a good and mature boy. But the way he was talking made her disgusted and agitated.   
“You know what Lily” Remus said looking dead into her eyes; his face looked uneasy “Snape and James and Sirius they hate each other, so let’s just let them be. We are friends, let’s stay friends. Drop it” he then extended a hand for her to take it. She did, they shook hands and started patrolling again. They were in the corridor of the second floor above the dungeons, where the Slytherin common room was supposed to be.   
“So what are you up to for Christmas?” Remus broke the silence.  
“I thought that as….” But before she could complete they heard a shrieking scream down the corridor which made them start.  
They both paced down the corridor to find a bunch of students. Breathing hard Lily looked up at the faces. Therewith their back towards her stood Potter and Black and facing her stood Avery a fellow 5th year Slytherin, Malfoy a 7th year Slytherin and into the shadows stood Severus. A look at him brought shivers inside Lily. Then she noticed someone else in their company a small boy, who seemed to be a 2nd year Hufflepuff who lay on the floor with blood trickling down his forehead, he seemed to have collapsed. She glanced around and at the sight, it seemed as though the group had been dwelling; Gryffindors against Slytherin. She saw Black raise his wand pointing it straight at Malfoy and mutter something but before he could do anything Remus shouted “expelliarmus” and Black’s wand zoomed out of his hand as Remus caught it. Lily could not hear what spell Black was trying to do but Remus certainly knew.   
“ENOUGH” Remus yelled and now the dwellers seemed to notice Remus and Lily. Lily saw the three Slytherins slowly nod to each other before running into the shadows. Then red sparks emerged at the end of Potter’s wand knocking one of them off. “COWARDS” Black shouted before he started to run after Severus. Lily started off after them immediately but was caught by strong arms which turned out to be James who had now faced her with a concerned look   
“Stay and settle things here, I’ll go check after them,” Remus said with a tone of urgency before he disappeared into the shadows towards the dungeons. 

Remus ran as fast he could to catch up with Sirius and Snape. He knew Sirius had a short temper and would do anything when he was angry and so he needs to be stopped. Then he saw them. Snape laid flat on his back with Sirius on top of him punching hard on his face “STUPEFY” Yelled Remus with all his might that knocked Sirius onto the floor leaving Snape alone. “I thought you were a Prefect Snape” Remus raised his eyebrows. “Leave before he gets up, I SAID GO!” but Sirius already started for Snape but looked back when he saw It was Remus who attacked him. There was anger in his eyes. Disgust and hatred like Remus had never seen before  
“Step aside Black,” Remus said urgently.  
“GIVE.ME.MY.WAND.LUPIN” he yelled, his eyes fixed on Remus. Snape Ran into the shadows and away from the two friends.   
“Relax Padfoot” Remus tossed Sirius’s wand back to him who took it and clenched it tightly into his hand. “You’re angry that’s it, relax.”  
Sirius was breathing hard but now seemed to have relaxed a bit. Sirius sat on the floor panting. Remus stretched out his arm for him to take it and get up. He did and Stood beside Remus before saying “Had you’d been a minute late, He” Sirius said nodding toward the direction Snape had gone “would have been dead”  
“I hope you do get what you were about to do Sirius, it would not only have gotten you expelled from Hogwarts but would also have led you to Azkaban”  
“What about them, they were using Dark Magic,” Sirius said very angrily.  
“YOU WERE ABOUT TO USE AN UNFORGIVABLE CURSE ON HIM SIRIUS”  
“I know, but he deserved it” Sirius dug his hands deep into his pants. Remus folded his arms and came to a halt before asking “Can I know what exactly happened there, and why were you out of your bed after hours?”  
“Well… So after you left for patrolling, James and I felt a bit hungry so we were heading toward the kitchen. When we say those Gits bullying that little Hufflepuff boy and we couldn’t resist you know, our hatred for Slytherins and bingo there was Snivellus”   
“You know they were calling him a- a … You-know-what” Sirius stopped; he couldn’t say Mudblood out loud.  
“Yeah and then? …You thought of avenging that boy by dwelling with the Slytherins”   
“Well… “Sirius gave Remus a shy mischievous smile “precisely”  
“Then those gits started attacking us back and they were using dark magic, I swear Lupin they were the ones who attacked that boy and then started spitting insults about you and James and Pete and myself… and we then lost it and started to attack back… you might have heard the boy scream.”  
“And then we came… now Padfoot I want you to tell me how much of it is true?” Remus looked into Sirius’s black eyes trying to intimidate him.  
“Promise me you won’t tell Evans?” When Remus didn’t reply Sirius continued “we just thought it would be fun to put a few dungbombs near the dungeons. That’s it. Rest was all true”   
“Hmmm, I get it Pads, but I need you to be more careful with how you use your wand, you don’t want to end up in Azkaban, do you?”  
“I just don’t want to become something like them,” Sirius said dully “And now what are you going to do, Give us detention?” Sirius now wore a smirk on his face.  
“I don’t know it’s all in Lily’s hands now,” Remus said with an equal Smirk that Sirius wore.  
“ugg… she acts like she’s our mom” Both the marauders laughed as they headed back to the Gryffindor common room where Lily’s speech was still left to be heard.


	9. The Christmas Walk

The constant noises in the dorm forced Sirius to wake up and find Prongs and Mooney dressed in red sweaters with a stag on prong’s sweater and a wolf on Mooney’s sweater standing in front of him.  
“MERRY CHRISTMAS PADFOOT” they both shouted in unison. Sirius grinned sleepily, his eyelids feeling heavy and a feeling of warmness erupted through his chest as he saw the sight. It was Christmas and He wasn’t stuck at Grimmauld place neither was he alone at Hogwarts. His best friends were there, with him and he felt home.   
“You guys look good I better change too” Sirius got up from his four-poster “But first, Presents!”

He stopped the edge of his bed where lay three gifts wrapped in scarlet packaging, each shining brightly. Sirius went over to open the first present which was from James. He tore It open and was flabbergasted by what was in it. It was a small model, no bigger than a shoe, polished metallic black and glimmering like Sirius’s eyes a model of a bike. Sirius’s obsession with muggle bikes was something that his friends knew about and he was delighted after he saw the gift.

The next present was from Remus, it was a book on how to control your anger and be calm “I see why are you so calm Mooney” Sirius said with a wink.  
Peter had sent him a wand holder, Which was a not-so-useful-present as Sirius mostly carried his wand in his robes or pants, but he still was happy to have it…after all it was a present from one of his best friend.  
“You are coming for breakfast Padfoot?” James asked glaring at Sirius who was still in his pajamas.

“You guys go ahead I’ll see you at the breakfast table”   
“Okay,” Remus said with a smile as James and He headed toward the great hall.  
Sirius got dressed in his Sweater with a black dog woven over it. He straightened his hair and made his way down the boys' dorm staircase to find someone unexpected by the common room fire. The redhead and the glittering and alert green eyes stared at him as he stared at her. Lily Evans stood in front of him with a perplexed look over her face. 

Sirius immediately broke out into a smirk “Evans! So nice to have to around, I Didn’t know you were staying for Christmas.”   
“Well, neither did I know that YOU were staying for Christmas, Black”  
“Then you must also not know that Prongs- I mean James and Remus are also staying, did you?”  
“No, I did not but it will be great to have Lupin around as a study mate”  
“You stayed to STUDY!”  
“OWLs are nearing Black, we need to Study”  
“Well Evans I can assure you one thing that Remus won’t spend his precious time studying when he has to learn how to have funn, He will be spending time with James and I !!” he raised his eyebrows as if to prove his point.  
Lily rolled her eyes “you aren’t up for breakfast”  
“After you”, Sirius bowed slightly which forced lily to turn scarlet as she made her way to the portrait hole with Sirius behind her.  
“So Evans, I was wondering if….” Sirius started  
“NO… I Won’t go out with Potter” Lily said firmly  
“Well… I wasn’t about to ask that” But deep inside Sirius knew that he was about to ask the question that lily just answered.   
“Well then...Continue “Lily kept walking as Sirius hurried to keep up with her.  
“I was wondering if you ever noticed how McGonagall tries to hide her smile every time I make a snarky remark”  
“She doesn’t try to suppress her smile idiot, she tries to hide her agitation, so that she doesn’t do something she isn’t supposed to.”  
“Oh, Come-on Evans you know she tries to suppress a smile” Sirius winked at her and she smiled as her ears turned a bit red.   
“I am never going to admit that you are Funny Black.”  
“Well 2 things Evans one- No one says I’m not funny and second …I would be really glad if you called me SIRIUS and not BLACK.”   
“okay Sirius but I’d like to tell you too that call me Lily and not Evans”  
“Lily it is then Lily” and Sirius kept chucking as they entered the Great hall to find a few people having breakfast along with the teachers.

The Great Hall had been decorated with Christmas decorations and all the four house tables had been kept aside only a single table stood between the gigantic and alluring Great hall. Sirius quickly spotted James and Remus because of their sparkly scarlet sweaters and hurried towards them making sure he dragged Lily behind him so that she could join the Marauders too.   
Sirius slipped beside Remus and made sure that Lily sat beside James who looked stunned to find Lily staying.  
“Hey! Lily, I didn’t know you were staying” James asked in an almost baffled tone.  
“Yeah, even I didn’t know you were staying Potter, Sirius told me right now”  
“Hey, since when did he become Sirius and why am I still Potter”  
Sirius raised his eyebrows and gave James an innocent smile while Remus unable to stop his laugher was leaning over Sirius’s shoulder and laughing heartedly at James.  
“What’s up with your sweaters anyways,” Lily asked curiously   
“What?” Sirius asked in a puzzled tone  
“the color is the same what about the animal?”   
“ohhhh thatttt” Sirius was smiling broadly  
“well actually Lily ….” James said in a dreamy voice   
“We have our favorite animal over it” Remus covered for James   
“That’s weird “Lily commented   
“We are weird, Hell yeah” Sirius said with a smirk as the Marauders and Lily had their breakfast laughing with Sirius making Jokes about every single topic he could think of.


	10. Betrayal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> is Remus Left alone again...or is a part of some really stupid prank?

After a joyful Christmas dinner, Remus was found buried in a book in the empty library. He had told Sirius and James that He’d be back in an hour. And they had been really pissed off but had granted him an hour, He was glad he wasn’t alone, after Lunch, however, they came to know that some Slytherins (specifically Malfoy) had also been staying for Christmas. James and Sirius were pretty upset about it and were already planning some pranks that they could play on them. Remus chuckled at the thought,

He was completely alone when someone came and sat across him, long white fingers and blond hair and a crooked nose. Malfoy. Think about the devil and the devil appears Remus thought. Remus raised his eyebrows at Malfoy, Malfoy only smiled, his devilish smile. “What are you up to Lupin?”

“Why do you care _Malfoy, and where is your pack... I mean where are your friends?_ you seem alone”

“oh- you talk about my friends Lupin, what about you where are your friends, talking behind your back are they?”

“Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy that’s what your friends do not mine, now get lost”

“oh really, I think I just ran into your friends and they seemed to be talking some really nice stuff about you” Malfoy’s tone told Remus that he was trying to be sarcastic. And the last thing Remus wanted to believe what Malfoy was saying. Remus started to get up, he was at the door when Malfoy called out “Keep your eyes open Lupin, You are being betrayed”

Remus turned and smiled at Malfoy “As you say Sir” now it was his time to be Sarcastic.

The corridor was empty, the only light source was the blazing fire that hung magically in the air, the wind was soft and Remus missed the clutter of noises of students in the corridor normally. Remus took a few steps but then stopped when at the end of the corridor he heard voices, _familiar voices._

He didn’t dare look who was it, the voice was enough. He had heard those voices so many times that he could not fail to recognize them. He would only be fooling himself. _James and Sirius._ He thought of what they were doing at this point in time, and why hadn’t they told him anything about it. He stood and listened, Eavesdropping would not be the right word after all he was their friend. 

“Such a fool he is” Sirius laughed along with James

“He is sooo naïve he doesn’t even understand that we are using him”

“Does he expects to be friends with _us?” you’ve gotta be kidding me, James”_

 _“_ I don’t have words, everyone thinks he is smart and all, but….I must say, Sirius, Lupin is a very, very big fool”

Sirius laughed as if in agreement to what James had just said, Remus was pinned to the point tightly clutching the book, his hands were ice cold and his eyes (he was sure) must be popping out(if they could). Anxiety seemed to be crawling its way out, his vision blurred and he could not comprehend what was happening.

“I mean seriously, does he not understand, He is even worse than Snape”

“I wonder why Evans likes him”

“Sometimes James, I feel as if no one likes him but they act as if they do”

“Sometimes I wish I could tell him, you little Dumbledore’s pet, behave yourself or one day you’ll end up like that old man”

“I remember the other day, he was like “I’m so glad to have you guys with me” and I was like Seriously dude you, well I’m not glad to have you around”

“Me too,” James said laughing.

“I think we should go now before he gets back, come on let's go” and he heard footsteps towards the end of the other corridor. He was pinned to the point he could not breathe, a lump formed in the deepest pit of his stomach, his legs gone numb, his forehead was wet with sweat. he did not know what to do.

A part of him told him that he was seeing things (or maybe hearing) but another part would not agree, he had just stood there, it was _their voices, his friends, Sirius and James, had it all been a lie!._

He managed to take a few gulps of air and told himself that he was a part of some really stupid prank and that when he will get into the common room they would tell him that it was a joke.

As he entered through the portrait hole, he as expected found James and Sirius in the common room talking, Remus didn’t dare to speak when Sirius noticed him he said “Hey, Moony, it's late you told us you’ll be back in an hour”

“now come on have a look at what we’ve planned, we will need your help with a few spells, but rest we can manage, and yes don’t tell Lily about it”

“Oh, come on James he would never do it, He is our friend” Sirius winked at Remus. Remus did not feel any better instead, He was starting to realize that it was not a prank that he had heard was real, and hated himself for thinking that maybe-maybe Malfoy was right, maybe he was being betrayed.

The problem with thinking a lot is that you tend to think about the possibilities that could happen, and most probably of those which are often nasty or heartbreaking. And so he thought, a million thoughts rushed pass his mind, a lot of _WHAT-IFS_ and a lot of _you-were-wrongs_.

“hey! You okay” Sirius asked, “you are pale, did something happen?”

“oh don’t tell me, you ran into Malfoy”

Remus arched his brow at James and James said “what?... you did”

Sirius and James looked at each other, but before any of them could say anything Remus blurted “I’m tired, I think I should go get some sleep” And he went off without any other word.

XXXXXXX

“you sure he would not suspect anything,” Jordan said

“No, you should have looked at his face” Malfoy sneered “he looked like he might pass out any moment”

“My favorite part was when Jordan said he was even worse than Snape, oh I so wish he was here,” Goyal said

“Oh-oh-oh my dear Lupin, such a fool he is, and his dork friends, they act so stupidly that he will be forced into believing that all of it was true”

Malfoy, Jordan, and Goyal laughed, as Remus lay on his bed weeping and thinking if all of it was true, if he was betrayed, or if he was again _alone._


	11. Please

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius knows something is really off with Remus and he wants to talk, but Remus...

Sirius and James sat in silence for a while until Remus’ footsteps died away. Then like it was planned they both looked at each other, they both wore the same puzzled look. “What’s up with him?” James asked Sirius who was wondering the same thing. Sirius shrugged “what do you reckon happened, he does not act that way”

“Unless he read something sad or disturbing or heartbreaking,” James said with a look of concern and had it been some other day, Sirius would have laughed and would have taken the joke even further but today was different, something did seem really off with Remus, and it didn’t fit in quite well. Sirius shifted uneasily, James seemed to notice his concern and keep a hand on Sirius’ shoulder “I’m sure he will be alright, maybe he needs some space, maybe he is tired, you know he will be alright tomorrow, and besides don’t forget he is the most mature among four of us” He winked and continued “c’mon we better sleep too, I’m tired as heck”

Sirius did not say anything, but he knew something was wrong but maybe James was right, Maybe Remus was just tired, maybe he needed some space, and Yes-he was the most mature but Sirius knew that how much he hid inside himself. “you go, I’ll be there in a moment”

Sirius sat there, he did not know for how long for he was thinking, and when finally he entered the dorm, He could hear James snoring, He smiled, maybe I’m thinking too much. His bed was beside Remus’ so he could see him with the pillow clutched tightly like he was hugging it, his face buried in the pillow. But still, Sirius thought, Remus never sleeps that way, He arched his brow and got up to keep a hand on Remus’ shoulder, Remus did not move but Sirius realized immediately that Remus was awake.

“Moony?”….No answer “I know you aren’t asleep” … No answer, No movement … “ok fine, …ugh….listen to me we need to talk”

“What do you want Sirius”

“I need to talk”

“Later, do you realize what time it is?”

“NO” Sirius folded his arms, Remus shifted his pillow, it was dark but Sirius could make out the frowning face that Remus wore.

“Listen, Sirius, I don’t know what you want from me, but please I don’t want to talk”

“and why is that so?”

“Duh!”

“Well, I don’t know why aren’t you talking to me, but I know one thing that is that something is really wrong with you”

“No, it is not”

“You can’t lie to me Lupin”

Remus was silent. Then he sat on his bed folded his arms like Sirius and stared at him. “What is it Black”

Sirius sat beside Remus, shoulder to shoulder, “You are the one who is supposed to answer that question, not me, you know you can always talk to me Moons”

Remus looked away, out of the window “I don’t want to talk”

Sirius kept a hand on Remus’ shoulder and squeezed it. “please, is there anything That I have done or said, please tell me, Remus, I hate it, please”

“What?, what do you hate, to be my friend” the words touched Sirius like venom and he could feel his eyes burn, his gut churned, How could Remus possibly think that way? “I hate it, that you are acting like this, I hate it, Remus, I really do”

“I am acting like what?”

“Tonight in the common room, the way you acted, it was just not you, and the way you are acting right now” The last thing Sirius wanted was to be angry at Remus, but it was his flaw, that everyone was aware of, Anger. He tried to stay calm but it was just something he could not do.

“wow! So now you get to decide who am I supposed to be like” He hated Remus for it, Remus would never talk to Him that way, Remus would never talk to Sirius like that. “Remus, what in the world…I didn’t mean to…” But Remus had raised his hand as If to stop Sirius, “please, please…” there was a raw edge in his voice as if he was stopping himself from crying “Please Sirius, I don’t want to talk to anyone, not you not James, Nobody, please I need some space, please leave, I need to sleep”

Sirius sat there for a moment and he wanted to scream, he wanted to tell Remus how much he cared for him and how much he wanted to talk to him about what was wrong, but he knew that now was not the right time, so he got up and went down to the common room, holding back all the churning emotions. And slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hii  
> i know it took me a lot of time to write this chapter, and i know this is really small, but I'm really caught up with school (and exams) ....I'm sorry ...hope you like it :))


	12. Lily's Plan

The next morning James woke up ruffling his hair,, trying to make them messier. He stretched his arm and picked his glasses before he realized that he was the only one in the dorm. He was perplexed, this was usually not the scene. Sirius and Remus would always wait for him or would tell him that they were leaving. He shrugged and got dressed.

When he descended into the common room he found Sirius asleep on the couch, He went over to wake him up, but stopped when he heard his friend muttering in his sleep, “pleas-please...Don’t...Please…you can’t do this to me….You are the only ones I’ve got..No-NO..Please…” James tensed and shook Sirius from sleep “Hey! Mate wake up…please…” Sirius woke up startled, his hair sticking up in all directions, his face beaded with sweat, His breathing slow, his face pale. James looked at him with concern “you okay?”

“Y-Yeah”

“well…you don’t seem so”

“I-I’m fine”

“Why are you sleeping here?”

“hun?...” Sirius stopped as if remembering something then balled his hands into fists, and James thought his face went paler than it already was.

“Why-Are-you-sleeping-down-here-in-the-common-room-? “ James asked slowly

“Yeah, I get it, you don’t have do say it that way” James smirked but Sirius wore the same grim expression.

“Where is Remus anyway?”

“I-I… How am I supposed to know?”

“oh…” James could make out what must have happened but before he could think he blurted “You had a row with him? ..didn’t you”

Sirius’s gaze was distracted as if he was looking inside himself then he looked at James “I-I don’t know, what is wrong with him, James we need to do something, He is acting really odd, something happened, We-We, need to do something” Previous night James had thought that maybe Remus was sad or tired and had not paid so much heed to it, but now things did seem pretty odd.

“Yes, Pads calm down we will, we will talk to him, but first you need to get up and eat something, okay?”

“yeah, you go ill be there”

“I’m not leaving you”

“I’m okay, ill see in at the great hall”

James thought about it and then nodded “promise?”

“Yeah whatever” Sirius gave the smallest smile in the wholeee world, which gave James the tiniest assurance that his friend would be alright.

James sat in the great hall for about 15 mins before getting too impatient, things did not make sense, Remus acting weird and Sirius being in a state of distress, He ruffled his hair and tried to think, he had not touched his plate and it seemed that the eggs were smiling at him sarcastically telling him that “Duh, it’s so simple” But he could not get the gist of what was happening.

Finally, Lily entered the Great hall and sat across James, James was delighted and baffled and he knew his face would be the deepest shade of red “H-hi Lily, what brings you here”

“Two questions, where is Remus and What is up with Sirius”

“Sirius?” James wondered why she was asking about Sirius.

“Well yeah, when I was coming down here, he seemed to be petrified on the couch, just staring blankly, he looked sick, is alright”

“Lily, I really don’t know what’s up with Remus and Sirius” James out of habit ruffled his hair again.

“can you please stop doing that and tell me what happened”

James stopped ruffling his hair and locked his eyes with Lily and told her everything he knew, about Remus acting odd and Sirius having a row with Remus, Lily listened to all of it in silence before she took a lock of her hair and twirled it between her fingers. She was thinking. James had observed It a million times that when Lily was thinking she would do this, he tilted his head and stared at her and knew that a smile was on his face, anyone who might look at him might think he was gone nuts and that was true he did had gone crazily nuts for Lily.

After a min Lily looked behind James, James shifted so that she would look at him only, “Get away you fool” she hissed. James shifted reluctantly but looked behind to see what Lily was looking at: the Slytherin table. James rolled his eyes “What, why are you looking at them”

Lily did not reply. After a moment she leaned towards James and said in a low voice “James, I need you to listen to me very carefully, and do as I say, okay?”

“Come again?”

“I have some idea of what might have happened, but I’m not sure, there is a way to find out and that’s why I need you to listen to me and do as I say, okay”

James hesitated but said “Okayyyy…say it then”

xxxxx

“NO, NO, NO,” James said “I-am-not-doing-it-at-any-cost”

Lily rolled her eyes “oh c’mon Potter”

“had you asked me something else, then I’d have done it…but this …NO …I won’t”

“ugh, do you not want to help Remus and Sirius, do you wish to lose your friends?”

James considered it, but the plan was really absurd, he could never imagine himself doing it but that was one way they would be able to figure out what had happened “ughhh…I hate it..but alright for Moony and Padfoot.”

“Great” Lily smiled “let’s do it then”


	13. The Theory about Owls

“I think you are overthinking,” Lily said casting a spell over herself that would enable her to hear all kinds of voices.

“well…it may not be a big thing for you, but it is for me!!” James demanded

“I’m not asking you to do something impossible”

“I cannot insult you In any way”

“But I’m asking you to do it!”

“still………”

Lily rolled her eyes and snapped her hand in front of James’ face, “if you want to do it it's okay otherwise…I’m going, I take it, you are a coward”

“No_I_Am_Not”

“they show it”

“Alright”

Xxx

“You all are alike, you all are bad, I thought that you at least would have some sense but I was wrong” James yelled standing up at his table in the great hall. “Lily I was not expecting this from you”

“I think you are talking irrational James” lily said in a calmed voice

“No I AM NOT, first that silly boy Lupin and then Sirius and now you little …. “ James stopped… he could not say it… “fool, I wonder why does anyone even like you, why did I like you?”

“you are not supposed to talk like this to me James, you are creating a scene.” Lily pleaded “please stop”

“STOP” James bellowed “you are asking me to stop, you should stop taking instead and work on getting your big nose a bit smaller.” James let out a little fake laugh.

By now the whole great hall was staring at James and Lily. James’ face had gone red. And he felt he could not continue but the only thought that made him go was of his friends.

Lily’s face turned pale like she was not sure of what was happening, but James knew that she could hear more than what he was shouting. And When Lily gave him a final nod, he as planned said “Don’t ever show me your face again and …tell those two idiots to do the same” and he rushed out of the great hall.

As the cold air hit his face James started breathing heavily … “Its okay, it’s okay, everything’s going to be fine” he told himself a few minutes later he was joined by Lily who came out stone-faced, but her expressions relaxed as she stopped beside James.

“did you get what you wanted to hear?” James asked his voice filled with hope.

“Yeah, just as I thought, but I think we must hurry… before things get messier.”

“Wait, tell me what happened?”

“well… when you told me about the stuff that happened I thought that maybe Malfoy and his lapdogs might have some hand in it…”

“Oh- I like the word Lapdog..ha-ha”

“Shut up” Lily continued “but I was not sure, so when I cast the spell and you were yelling I could hear them talking, and well…basically what might have happened that when Remus was coming from the library they did something that made Remus feel that, you and Sirius hated him and were using him, and I guess you know the rest”

“Yeah,” James said, he did, he now could put the pieces together and make out what was the reason behind Remus being so odd, and he felt angry, his blood rushed and he could feel the tension building around his temples. He balled his fists and gritted his teeth “Malfoy” He sneered.

“No time to be angry, we need to find Remus and Sirius and let them know what is the truth, fast, c’mon”

XXX

Remus sat in the corner of the Owlery, letting the soft breeze hit him gently. He felt numb; He could not sleep and have come here in hopes of getting some peace. He could hear the low voices of owls hooting. From where he sat he could see Hogwarts Castel which looked spectacular, and the lake seemed to be made of diamonds.

Then he heard a new voice, someone was coming upstairs, he tried to get up but failed. It was nearly headless Nick. “Oh- who do we have here, young Lupin”

“Hi Nick”

“you okay, you look terrible “

“Yup, I’m good, what brings you here”

“oh I just came to see the owls, I love watching them” Which made Remus wonder who likes watching owls, well…Nick did.

“you know what I like about owls,” Nick said after a min of silence.

“What?”

“that they are so loyal and firm on what they do, once they pledge allegiance to their holder, they do whatever he asks them to do, even if it means that the owl might lose his life, for he knows that his master can not think anything bad about him”

“yeah…” Remus wondered why Nick was telling him this but he listened, for he had nothing else to do.

“Owls are very good creatures, and I feel that we all can resonate from them in some way or the other, He knows the people who love him and care for him, he knows when he Is _deceived, when someone tries to fool him, he knows that that person is not right”_

Remus started thinking why was Nick talking like this, did he want to tell Remus something?...

“What do you want to tell me?” Remus asked abruptly.

“Well.. I guess you know if it were a letter I would have written… P.S- The marauders are known for their Loyalty and friendship, they are inseparable” He winked at Remus and said “OK bye Young boy, I will see you later, take care, and have faith in your friends”

As Remus saw Nick’s ghost disappear, his mind started racing to tell him, how wrong he had been, what happened the other night was an illusion, it could never have been Sirius or James. He was a fool. Never could it have been them. They loved him, he was their friend, he had been wrong.

And he hated himself for whatever he had said to Sirius, he had no time to waste, he _needed to talk to Sirius tell him everything, of how sorry he was._

_And then He ran for the Gryffindor Common room._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, I'm really sorry, it took me so much time.... but schoolssssss.....and I don't think I would be able to write the next chapter any sooner so pls forgive me....<3


	14. The Truth

James stood in front of Sirius was sat on the common room couch still, as if all the life has been taken away from him, his hands balled into fists. His eyes unfocused as if he was thinking something, or rather talking to himself. When James and Lily had told him about Malfoy and his plan, James had expected Sirius to shout and yell and get angry, but he had listened to all of it silently which was even worse. The good thing was Lily knew how to manage the situation, she had kept her tone calm and tried to make Sirius calm down, because even if he was not showing it, Sirius had a raging fire growing inside him, which was rare and when it happened the outcome was never pleasant, forget pleasant it was not even bad, it was deadly.   
“Did you tell Remus about it?” Sirius asked in a voice that was full of rage and hatred, his teeth gritted and his eyes over James’ face.   
“umm…we thought we’d tell you first”  
As if in the queue the fat lady portrait opened, giving way to out-of-breath Remus. His face was Red, struggling to find air, he kept one hand on the wall and breathed heavily.   
“Merlin Remus,” James said staring at Remus “you must’ve run really fast!” Lily nudged him and continued “Are you okay Remus?”  
“No, nothing is fine, NOTHING, I so so sorry, Sirius, James I’m so so Sorry” James could see tears forming in Remus’ eyes, he was barely able to stand.   
“For what Remus?” James asked, and though he felt foolish he still asked it, you know there are some times when you just start saying something and you cannot stop yourself, it was just the moment.  
“for being such a fool, such a dickhead, for being so rude for being a poor friend who cannot even trust his best friends, I’m so so sorry”

Sirius was quite, he did not know what to comprehend, Remus was standing in front of him, his eyes locked with Sirius’. Sirius was numb, but he had an urge to go hug Remus tightly, and so he did, he went forward and hugged Remus, Remus held him too wrapping his hands around Sirius’ waist.   
Lily stood smiling in a corner along with James watching Remus and Sirius. When Lily looked at James he was smiling really broadly when he saw her watching him he extended his arms gesturing for her to hug him, but she waved her hand and gave a no-way expression. 

James gave her a knew-it ¬ look and continued looking at Remus and Sirius.   
“Re,” Sirius said in a low voice “I’m sorry I should’ve understood”  
“No Sirius” Remus said “it was my fault, I should have trusted you and James”  
“so how did you know it was not us,” James asked, Lily was wondering the same   
Remus thought about it for a second, hand still around Sirius. “a friend helped me realize, that I was wrong, and a complete dick, and fool….”  
“okay-okay we get it” lily said giggling  
“So do you know who did it and what happened?” Sirius asked  
“Umm… that I don’t know, what I know is that it wasn’t you,” Remus said as both of them blushed.  
“it was Malfoy” James commented  
“Malfoy?”  
“Yes Malfoy”  
“I should have guessed”  
“What?”  
“I mean the right before I heard those things he came to me in the library and said some really toxic stuff to me”  
“And you stopped him by being sarcastic” Sirius said arching his brow “and then he did that?’  
“Well…. You know me really well Pads” Remus grinned  
“So what’s the plan now?” Lily asked. This was a surprise for the boys, they all turned to face Lily, who wore a so-what smile.   
James grinned his mischievous smile, the one that never had a good end  
“NOW”  
“Malfoy” Said Sirius  
“Pays” Remus completed


	15. Sweet Revenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiiii everyone who is reading this, thank you soooo much for reading my fanfic series, your comments and like are so precious to me, I don't even have words. here is the last chapter (finally, I know) hope you like it <3 <3
> 
> PS: If you want to read more fanfic that I've written feel free to follow me on Tumblr. with the same name @padfootalltheway i post more often there. Requests are always open. and well.... that's it...Enjoy.

It took hours of planning and loads of suggestions. For James and Sirius had been really serious about taking the Revenge. They should be. So when finally they agreed on a plan who was totally James-y and Sirius-ly they executed it, the only problem was that it was supposed to be done in parts. And a lot it depended on their luck “the god is with us” James had said “we cannot fail, and if it happens”

“which it is not going to” Sirius Intervened

“We are not going to stop!!”

It was a day before school was going to start again after the Christmas holidays. And they thought it was the perfect time to execute it, the whole school would be there.

“It's just” Lily had said doubtfully that night “I don’t see how you are gonna do the stuff, it too dangerous”

“Awwwww,” Sirius said

“don’t worry We are gonna pull this one off” James winked and commented.

XXXXX

“done,” James said coming out of his invisibility cloak. “it was difficult but not impossible. Sirius, Remus how did it go? Did you guys put everything in place?”

“Yeah” Remus grinned, his face a little red. Sirius grinned while rubbing his hand together. “all set”

XXXXXX

The next day when Remus woke he felt his mind heavy and full of thoughts, he had this thought that what if this plan doesn’t work?. His friends had planned it to take revenge from Malfoy for him. He smiled to himself, sunshine pouring in from the windows. He checked the time he still had half an hour before the other would wake up. So he decided to take a shower. The water was cold and it felt good to take a shower in it. He let the water take over his feeling and calmed himself before stepping out and changing.

It was during breakfast that they got their first tick. They were all settled with James and Sirius telling Peter all about the plan. Remus sat across Lily who was looking at James. Remus could sense a faint smile too. “Hey Lils,” He said, making her look at him. “What are you looking at” Lily blushed the deepest shade of scarlet. “just thinking about the thing you said” Remus smiled along with Lily. “I get it, do you think I was right then”

“I cannot say much as if now, we’ll have to wait a bit more”

“for what?” James intervened

“Nothing,” Remus and Lily said in unison before laughing together. It was a few minutes later that all the clattering heads turned to the gates of the Great hall. To welcome Malfoy and his mates along with Snape. Snape had not been the part of the revenge however Sirius had insisted on getting him into the picture.

“here it goes”

“fingers crossed”

And it was hit on the nail. As soon as they entered the students were welcomed by the foul smell of the dung bombes. The Slytherins looked confused they did not know what was happening. Malfoy sneered and shot a dirty look at James who shrugged still digging into his eggs. Sirius makes a motion that showed that he smelled something foul and maybe he overacted a bit. Which certainly made Remus laugh. Lily’s face was red and it was certain that she was stopping back a laugh. Everyone was making nasty faces and a few even asked them to leave. “POTTER” Malfoy hissed before retreating back toward the way he and his mates had come from. As soon as they left, Lily sighted “did we not talk about, not including Sev”

“Sev” Sirius said imitating Lily. “he is a poor innocent boy, James you did the bad thing, I hate you” Remus laughed out loud and put an arm around Sirius's neck, making their heads touch each other, and said “let's go we are getting late for the class, let Malfoy take a bath eh? “

“No please Re I want to stay with Lils and Potter”

“you have done enough harm, c’mon Pads lets get going”

And soon enough the marauders made their way to the potions class. With the Slytherins. As they made their way. Remus felt normal as heck. He had Sirius walking beside him, talking the normal stuff, but also of how excited he was to see what was going to happen next. Peter walked beside them probably still trying to understand what the plan was. James was coming with Lily explaining her how it was not his idea to include Snape and Lily being Lily did not believe him.

They took their seats a bit unusually. Remus with James and Lily with Sirius. And well peter sat alone a seat behind Lily and Sirius. “what are you thinking Re” James asked his hazel eyes concerned. His voice soft and friendly. “nothing, I-I’m… I don’t know how to thank you ppl”

“you don’t have to” The firmness with which he said it was immense which forced Remus to go a bit red and smile.

Professor started and looked around curiously, “I don’t see some of the Slytherins where are they?”

“Sir they must be on their way,” Sirius said cheerfully, hiding a laugh

“Oh- alright”

Soon after Snape and two of his friends entered the class, Malfoy didn’t of course because he was a year above them. The magic had been such (since they had lily) that their faces would go, Black, when they would wash it with soaps, but the funniest part was that they would not be able to see it.

Last night James had sneaked into the Slytherin common room, under his invisibility cloak and put in Soaps and shampoo, the soap would turn their faces black and the shampoo (which was actually Sirius’ idea) would turn their hair neon-colored. All the students present started laughing, and the Slytherins seemed to be in the turmoil about what was happening. Snape looked so deadly (he always did, but today all the limits were crossed) He had oily fluorescent neon hair, with a black face over his big nose. When Remus looked over at Lily her face was red, whether it was because of anger or suppressing a laugh he did not know but he could not stop himself from laughing. The scene was so hilarious that even the professor started to laugh. And that was how the whole Potions lecture went, no one dared to tell the Slytherins how they looked like.

When it was a break, Sirius rushed into the Gryffindor common room to take Remus’ camera so that he could take a picture of Malfoy and show him what he looked like.

As they entered the great hall for lunch, Malfoy seemed to be waiting for them, with his cold piercing eyes. And he looked so bad with his usual blonde hair dyed Neon “Hey Malfoy, looking cool” Remus said with a wink. While Sirius and James laughed “What have you done, why can’t I see anything”

“Oh believe me you look Pretty” Sirius commented. Malfoy only sneered while Snape intervened “you will pay for what you did Black”

“Oh calm down Snivellus,” Remus said calmly. “let Sirius do the thing”

“What thing?” before he could say anything Sirius took a lot of photos of the group. And as one of the photos came out Sirius took it and Gave it to Malfoy

“A gift for you,” James said while giving him a smirk. Snape looked at the pic and came ahead as if to punch James but a red head deflected it, it did not hit Lily she was pretty strong, instead she gave Snape a smile and said “We’ll talk later Sev, and No fighting boys”

While the Marauders kept smiling, the Slytherins retreated still in the turmoil of how they were going to get themselves look normal. When they disappeared from the scene, Remus broke into a grin and gave Sirius, James and Lily, and Biggggggg hug. They all began to laugh, and Remus could actually feel tears forming at the back of his lash, only a few years ago he had thought he had no one, just him and the coldness of loneliness, no hope. But today he felt there could be change and that things could get better and that he had a family. And they would always stay together. No one could get them apart.

_No one._


End file.
